Many folks wish to start a small business of their own and 2007 seems to be the year they wish to do this. Yet so many middle class Americans have few resources or up-front cash to start a business. Starting a business is not easy and it costs generally three times as much as the average optimistic entrepreneur believes it might. Worse off it often takes twice as long to get it going due to all the government paperwork and red tape.

So many small business start-up entrepreneurs that I have consulted with do not have much money and are currently drowning in short term debt such as credit cards, car loans and other consumer type debt. They need to be wiser with their family resources and will most likely need an investor to get the business off the ground. To start a small business you really need a plan of action and if you wish to find an investor you will need a business plan as well.

Some folks just starting out in a business of their own believe that all they have to do is to launch a website, register a domain name or two and they will be suddenly in business. However, it really does not work that way. If your family is on a budget, well then stick with that budget and do not spend any money until you have a viable plan and an investor. You should not talk about registering domain names or setting up your business, until you have your own financial house in order.

If you cannot run the family budget how can you expect to run a small business, which needs a proper ROI; Return on Investment. How can you expect an investor to be serious about investing in you and your dream? You also need a business plan if you are serious about setting up your business. You need to get serious about all that it details and perfect your plan, otherwise no one will wish to invest.

Your business plan must be as good or better than your College Papers, Thesis or Dissertation. Your business plan must be perfect or as close as humanly possible. You cannot simply register a domain name and set up a three-page website other wise you will appear to an investor to be some kind of Internet Marketing coo-coo-head and this will scare them off, because real businesses must provide value, services and products to their customers or they will not trade you for that unit of trade you seek.

I certainly appreciate you reading all my articles on this subject of Small Business and that you learn something new from each one. Thanks again and Godspeed. Perhaps this article is of interest to propel thought in 2007?

If you are new to having a home based business then you will of course have thoughts about how you are progressing: Positive, negative, or indifferent. Even the most optimistic people have set backs in their progress but the difference is they bounce back and not let it affect their outcomes.

As a successful entrepreneur you must steer your clients/customers in a positive direction. If you have a positive mindset then you can better help your clients with their problems and lead them to success too. All of this can be done by the following three tricks:

1) Be prepared for negativity

A lot of the time people do not know they have a negative mindset but simple statements such as ‘I can’t succeed’ ‘I don’t know how to blog’ ‘I have no help’ are all negative thoughts. With all the information on the Internet today there are plenty of resources where you can find information.

Learn from positive people and model their success. If you are empowered to succeed you can help others to succeed too.

2) Complete the tasks you are supposed to complete

Having a list of things to do is always helpful in making you feel you have accomplished something no matter how small the task is.

If you can see small changes it will encourage you to complete the other tasks you are meant to do and this is the only way you will see success. Have your end goal in mind but make sure to take it step by step – you will get there.

Add positivity to the end of your sentence. Instead of just saying ‘I have 3 more tasks to do’ say something like ‘I have 3 more tasks to do but by the end of the day I will have my blog set up and things set up in place to make my business succeed.’

The more clear the image of success is in your head, the more you are likely to achieve it.

3) Take the time to redefine yourself

A lot of people who are new to starting a home based business or looking to start a home based business have problems redefining themselves.

You have to have a whole new mindset and outlook in order to succeed. When I first started in the home based business industry I thought all of this was airy fairy and didn’t matter. But I WAS WRONG.

It is important to have the right mindset.

Nothing is permanent so you must read and learn from others who are achieving the success that you want in your life and business. You must never be the smartest person in the room – always learn from others and their experiences and mistakes.

You’ve probably heard of the term “social entrepreneur” and was left confused as to what that could mean. What exactly is that role and what makes that person different from the usual one?

First, what is our basic idea of an entrepreneur? If we define an entrepreneur, he is an innovative person who seeks to answer a current demand on a product or service. Now, we bring in the word “social” to the mix and what difference does it make? Basically we define a social entrepreneur as still being an entrepreneur since he still earns an income and gains a profit by providing services or selling products. However, what makes one different though is that while the usual entrepreneur is driven by profit, a social entrepreneur is driven by social change.

He is someone who seeks to answer society’s social problems with his services or products. Though there is profit to be had, this is not the main driving goal of a social entrepreneur. What he seeks is to promote change and affect society through his products or services. That is what makes him different from the usual enterprising businessman. Businessmen build industries, social entrepreneurs try to build a better society.

It might sound noble and in fact, it is. There is something noble about an enterprising person who could have earned more just by going through the usual business path, but he instead decided to effect change by introducing innovative products and services. If entrepreneurs face hardships when starting their business, social entrepreneurs face double. Most of the time, they introduce a product or service that is not what people are used to and what they wouldn’t even try. To be successful, a social businessman has to educate his target market and basically encourage them to change their view, lifestyle or habit – definitely not an easy task.

Need a bit more help in understand how one works? It might be better to give examples like the following people.

Florence Nightingale is one because she established the first nursing school and she did so in order to elevate the medical profession and improve patient care and hospital conditions. Though she might have earned enough from setting up a school, the change that she effected is still much bigger and more relevant than whatever business aspect her school had.

Dr. Maria Montessori is another example since she strove to provide better early child education by introducing a new approach and program. By setting up her school, she helped the development of many children, not just academically but emotionally and psychologically.

As you can see, the primary motive of social entrepreneurism is definitely to effect change. Profit is only second and in most cases, does not even figure at all. They are definitely what the world needs right now as we are plagued with poverty, climate change, corruption and other major problems.

All self-made millionaires work hard, hard, hard. They are addicted to hard work.

Why?

Because they know the formula for success that’s why! They know the outcome they are seeking and they know and understand that they have to work hard to get there. They know and accept the fact that making money is a formula and you have to follow the formula.

They have their dream, their goal, their plan and the desire to work hard to achieve the success they are striving for. They know that there is no such thing as becoming a Self Made Millionaire overnight! (Even if you had a money tree in the back garden:)

They know that if they want to turn their dreams into reality ~ then it’s up to them to make it happen!

These are the people that have the desire, the dedication and the discipline to learn the skill sets and they take massive action to get the results.

Ask any “Overnight Success Story” ~ HOW THEY MADE THEIR MILLIONS and HOW THEY BECAME AN OVERNIGHT SUCCESS STORY!

We have to get real here….and all Self Made Millionaires will tell you exactly the same thing…they worked long and hard, and usually you will find that they have been quietly working away, burning the midnight oil, learning the skill sets, honing their skill sets and usually taking a few, if not many years to actually become the “Overnight Success Story” they are portrayed to be. They developed a workaholic mentality.

Self Made Millionaires are just that…Self Made Millionaires!

What a Self Made Millionaire is not:

* NOT one of the lucky few who win the Lottery
* NOT born with a silver spoon in their mouth and inherits the family fortune
* A Struggling for cash EMPLOYEE

What a Self Made Millionaire does

* Starts earlier
* Works harder
* Stays later

They develop the reputation for being amongst the hardest working people in their fields, and everybody knows it. They know and practice the 40+ formula. This formula says that you work 40 hours per week for survival. Everything over 40 hours is for success. If you only work 40 hours, and the average work week today is closer to 35 hours, all you will ever do is survive.

It’s virtually impossible to get ahead and even more impossible to be a big financial success. You’ll never be highly respected and esteemed by your colleagues. You will always be mediocre if you just work the basic 40 hour week. Now this may sound a bit on the harsh side, but you know it’s true.

If you are like 95% of families then you are probably, “too busy making a living ~ to have time to make a life”

It doesn’t have to be this way. There is a way for ordinary families to become extraordinarily wealthy, to become Self Made Millionaires. There is a way!

Think about this: every hour over 40 is an investment in your future. In fact, you can tell where you’re going to be in five years by looking at how many hours over 40 you put in every week.

The average self-made millionaire in America today works 59 hours per week and some of them work 70 and 80 hours per week. The average self-made millionaire in America works six days per week rather than five and works longer days, as well. If you want to call a self-made millionaire, phone the office before normal working hours and after normal working hours. The self-made millionaire is usually there when the staff arrives and is still there when they leave.

And here’s the key: work all the time you work. When you work, don’t waste time. When you get in early, put your head down and get started immediately. When people want to talk to you, you excuse yourself and say, “I have to get back to work.”

Don’t drop off your dry cleaning, phone your friends, socialize with your coworkers or read the newspaper. Work all the time you work. Resolve today to develop the reputation for being the hardest working person in your company. This will bring you to the attention to the people who can help you faster than almost anything else you can do.

A Self Made Millionaire ENTREPRENEUR

Now this is a different breed altogether. An Entrepreneur has a completely different mindset to that of an Employee. Even though we may all start out as employees, it is the people with an Entrepreneurial Spirit who quickly realize that “Profits” are better than “Wages”. These are the people who do all of the things a good employee does as described above in their 40 hour a week J.O.B’s (Just Over Broke)!

However, the average family is about 2 months away from bankruptcy. Think about it for a moment and be honest. If you lost your job tomorrow and had no other source of income, how long could you truly manage to make your weekly and monthly financial commitments?

This is the scary statistic that is the cause of approximately 70,000 families a week starting a “Home Based Business”. They are all trying to create a secure financial future for their family. Unfortunately statistics also show us that 95% of these people fail within their first 45 days. Why is this so? Simple, it’s usually because they have never run a business before, they haven’t taken the time to develop the skill sets necessary to achieve success and they try to go it alone, without the back up of a support team.

Ask any Self Made Millionaire in fact any type of millionaire or even a billionaire and they will all tell you the same thing. They all have a great support team around them. Just ask Oprah! They delegate a lot of their work, they outsource, they have trainers, coaches, mentors, advisers…….whew all sounds a bit complicated doesn’t it? This is where the majority of “home businesses” fail and a vast number of people have heir dreams crushed. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Now with the latest technology at our fingertips and the Internet being the largest marketplace in the world, everyone with a computer and an Internet connection has the opportunity to run a multiple six figure business from their home. This can be done alongside your normal J.O.B. until such time as you have doubled your normal monthly income…..then the day has arrived when it’s time to tell your boss… “I’m sorry, I have to let you go!”